I Can't Stop It Now
by Mountainfall
Summary: A continuation of chapter 37 of The Crackship Armada. Takes place after AoU and AoS ep. 19 "Dirty Half Dozen". On Indefinite Hiatus
1. I Can't Stop It Now

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Avegers or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. they both belong to MArvel or Joss Wedon, one of the two.**

 **Credit due to Ozhawk for writing this chapter. This is a continuation of chapter 37 of The Crackship Armada, which is her fic. If you haven't read it I recomd you do. It isn't neccassary to understand what is happening in the fic., but that doesn't make The Crackship Armada any less awsome.**

"Bring it down, Skye!" Coulson ordered in her comm, and she gritted her teeth. The ground tremored and she sucked up the power and redirected it, sending it into the ancient fortress, this time above ground, where they'd found another Divining chamber. There was no Obelisk this time, thank God. Watching another friend die would destroy her.

"Wait, my sister's in there!" a voice yelled, and then Skye was suddenly knocked off her feet, by something moving so fast it _blurred_.

"I can't stop it now!" she shouted at the man now crouched over her. Her eyes widened as she recognised him; he'd been on TV lately quite a lot, and that white hair was pretty distinctive.

" _Quicksilver_?" she said in astonishment. _What was the speedster Avenger doing_ here _?_

Light blue eyes examined her curiously, and then he lifted a hand to touch his comm. "Wanda? You okay, Wanda!" he must have had a response, because he sagged with relief. "You're damn lucky she's all right, missy."

Pietro examined the girl at his feet. A pretty creature, small and slight, dark hair tumbling around her. And hellishly dangerous, he suspected, because she'd quite clearly caused the quake that was even now crumbling the ancient temple hidden in the jungles of Laos to dust. _Possibly his soulmate._

"You stay right there," he pressed a firm hand on her hip when she attempted to rise. "They sent me to try and stop you because I could get to you quickest, but the others will be here in a minute."

"Mine too…" _oh God, I have to warn Coulson_. She reached up a hand to her ear, but Quicksilver intercepted it.

"Oh no you don't."

"But I…" a large hand curled around her wrist and yanked her to her feet.

"Don't make me hurt you," he warned. "You might be my soulmate but my duty comes first until I'm sure you're not a danger to my team, or my sister."

"I – what? Soulmate?" Skye stared.

"Oh." He looked disappointed. "Your words aren't _Wait, my sister's in there_?"

"Yes – wait, is _that_ what you shouted?"

Her dark eyes were very wide as she stared up at him, and she looked very young and vulnerable. Except Pietro knew she was a scant few weeks younger than he was. His mark had appeared when he was just a baby, across his stomach, and the pain of it had brought him awake screaming in the night, according this mother.

Plus, _earthquakes_. He tightened his grip on her arm. _Trust no one_. No one but Wanda – and, slowly, the other Avengers. "Who are you?"

"My name is Skye," she responded immediately. "You're Pietro, aren't you?"

He nodded. "If you know who I am, you know I can break your neck before you can scream," he warned softly. "Don't try me."

Skye nodded, frightened by his grim expression. The Maximoff twins were very private people, but they'd given a few interviews in which it was strongly implied, if never outright stated, that they'd been imprisoned, tortured and experimented on by HYDRA.

Somehow, she'd never thought that her soulmate would be threatening to kill her within a minute of meeting her, though.

"Let go of her!" it was Coulson's voice. Skye turned her head to see him coming up over the rise, gun in hand, but he never even had the chance to threaten Pietro, because in an instant Quicksilver was behind her, thickly muscled forearm across her throat lifting her off her feet.

Coulson froze, his mouth dropping open, and a low voice nearby said;

"Well, well, look who's back from the dead."

Hawkeye stepped out of the trees, arrow nocked and pointed at Coulson. A deeply unimpressed look on his face. "I heard rumours. Didn't want to believe you'd really try to keep this from us for this long." He flicked a glance at Pietro. "Stand down. If she's one of Coulson's, she's on our side."

"That's good, because she's my soulmate."

"Really!" Hawkeye grinned. "Well, how about we leave you two alone to get acquainted and Phil and I go to see some people who are going to be _very upset_? You're going to love Cap's I-Am-Disappointed face," he told Phil as the two of them walked away.

Pietro had eased Skye down and loosened his grip the moment Hawkeye gave him the all-clear. She whirled around now and jabbed her finger into his chest.

"You _asshole_ , what a way to treat your soulmate!"

He grinned sheepishly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants. Skye couldn't help but look at the way the action made the fabric tighten across his lean hips. Wow, Pietro was _built_. The grey-and-blue stretchy top he was wearing did very nice things for his chest and shoulders as well. Somehow her hand stayed on his chest, flattening out from the poking finger. She looked up to his eyes and caught him _looking down her top_.

"I'm sorry," Pietro said guiltily.

"For being an asshole or for getting caught looking at the goods?"

"Both?" He pulled his hands out of his pockets and reached out, cupping her arms gently at the elbows. Rather to his surprise, she let him pull her closer.

"I have a known weakness for assholes," Skye confessed.

"Yeah?" he raised one hand to her cheek, a little disturbed to note that it was shaking slightly. "Well from now on _I'm_ the only asshole for you, all right?"

She wanted to argue, to make a lippy retort, but he did that thing again where he moved faster than she could see and suddenly his mouth was pressing against hers.

Skye had to take several deep breaths when he let her go. "I won't be a blushing fainty-maiden for you," she warned.

"Good. I don't want one." This time when his lips met hers, it was a very long time before they came up for air.


	2. I Don't Want To Let You Go

**Auther's Note: I wasn't planning on posting this till Monday, but today has been a bad do. So, I decided to cheer myself up by making you lovely readers happy. Thus, chapter two, enjoy!**

When they did finally break apart, Pietro looped his hand through Skye's. "Come, you must meet my sister, and the other Avengers." The last part of the sentence was added like an after thought, as though he didn't really care at all if she met the Avengers. He just cared that she met his sister. _Like he actually wants me to be part of his family_ , Skye thought in wonder. _Is this what family feels like?_ She frowned, it was enough to make her wonder if she was as attached to her mother as she thought she was.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Skye jerked out of her thoughts, "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine."

He looked at her, concern etched on his face, "You sure?"

She gave him an appeasing smile, "I'm fine, I was just thinking we should hurry, before Romanov kills Coulson. I'd hate if he died again."

It was clear he didn't believe her, but he went with it anyway. Something she was grateful for, she hadn't even discussed her messed up family with her team yet.

He placed one hand on her back, and the other grabbed the back of her knees, scooping her up bridal style. "What are you doing?"

"What? You said you wanted to get to them quickly." Skye had just enough time to wrap her arms around his neck before he blurred again.

They stopped when they came across the Avengers and Skye's team arguing with each other. He let her down gently. She smiled at him, then turned back to the others.

"Trouble, Coulson?" she asked innocently.

"You and your soulmate are slow."

"I think you are the only person who has ever accused me of being slow."

Both teams with exception of Coulson and Hawkeye did a double take. "Soulmates?"

Wanda spoke next, "Of course you found yours. You are older, you do everything first. Twelve minutes Pietro, twelve. That means nothing to the rest of the world."

"Yes Wanda, I know." He gestured to Skye. "This is my soulmate, Skye."

Skye shifted awkwardly, "Hi, it's nice to meet you."

She looked over Skye critically, "Perhaps you will be able to teach my brother some manners." Skye blinked, that wasn't what she had been expecting Wanda to say. "You are`t used to people being polite to you, are you?"

"Not on the first meeting, no."

"What do you mean not on the first meeting, Jemma and I were perfectly polite," shouted Fitz.

"Well yes, but that was after Ward and Coulson kidnapped me and interrogated me."

"I seem to recall it turning into you interrogating Ward," piped Coulson.

"Hmm, it did didn't it? That was fun, a bizarre way of gaining a person's trust, but fun," she reminisced.

"Most important part is that it worked."

Pietro looked at her, "You joined the team that kidnapped you?"

Skye shrugged, "So we started off as enemies, from what I hear so did you and your team." She gestured around at the Avengers.

Wanda laughed, "She has a point Pietro, we really are no different."

Hunter moved to the front of the group, "Look, lovely as this all is, we really have to go. The job is done, Gonzales will know from the seismic activity. We don't need to take forever in getting home and have to explain to him why, because honestly, I don't think we can."

"Anyone else instantly worried when Hunter has a really good point?" Asked Coulson. "Although, he is right, we really need to get going. Hurry up and say your goodbyes Skye." He turned and walked off in the direction of the quinjet.

Pietro's hand slipped into Skye's. She turned to face him and smiled. Before he could say anything, she reached up and pulled him into a short, chaste kiss. The moment she broke away he pulled her back for a second more heated kiss. His hands pulled out of hers, and encircled her waist. His tongue brushed teasingly over her lips, hoping he'd be let in. She just smiled against his lips and pulled away.

"Next time tiger. This isn't goodbye, how ever finale Coulson makes it sound. I will see you around." She spun around and headed in the direction her team had just to, her hips swaying as she did so.

He watched her go, and one thing ran through his mind, fear. It scared him, how much he wanted her around him. He was only ever afraid when he thought he was going to lose someone he cared about. So, in recent years, he had only ever been afraid for Wanda. The fact that he was afraid for Skye only made him want her near him more. Which in turn, scared him more, which started quite the vicious cycle in his head.

"Anyone, besides lover boy, wonder who this Gonzales guy is, and why they are trying to dodge him?" Rodney asked.

"Actually, yes," replied Steve.

"Well then boys, we better head home. We have research to do," Natasha turned and headed in the direction of their own quinjet.

"Love to stay and help, Tasha, but I got to head back to Laura and start on the dining room." Hawkeye said.

Sam muttered, "ditcher."

Wanda placed her hand on Pietro's shoulder, who was still staring in the direction Skye had left. He jumped and looked at her. "Come, you will see her again. I believe her when she says that. For now though, we must go too."

"Yes, of course," He turned and trudged after her.

 **Auter's Note: Sorry if the kiss wasn't very good, I've never written a kiss before.**


	3. Everything Is Falling Apart

**Author's Note: I got four of them this time, so bear with me.**

 **1\. Sorry, I ment to post last week, but life got in the way**

 **2\. Sotty to Ozhawk, I forgot to post this last chapter, but, thanks for being a beta.**

 **3\. Plot statrs this chapter, I know some of you have been waiting for this.**

 **4\. Chapter takes place after 2x20 "Scars" with this episode being the last cannon event**

 **So with out further a do, enjoy chapter 3.**

Skye stared at the stone remnants of Gonzales. Where had it all gone wrong? She didn't have a clue, and now her mother was in the recovery room. SHIELD wasn't taking it well. They were blaming the inhumans, saying that Gonzales had been defending himself. She didn't know who to believe. Skye knew she was going to be asked to pick a side soon, and she wasn't sure she could.

If only there was a way to know for certain what happened. It wasn't that she didn't trust her mother's account of what happened, it just didn't make sense. If only there had been a camera in the room, but Afterlife was a technology free zone, with the exception of the transitioning equipment. At least, that's all that Skye had seen.

Before she had a chance to continue that line of thought there was a knock on the door. She spun around to see Lincoln, "Hey."

"Hey, Jiang is awake and wants to speak to you."

"Thanks, I'll head over." He nodded and left.

Skye headed to her mom as fast as possible. She stopped outside the wood hut, and knocked before entering. She was greeted with the sight of Jiang in bed and smiling at her. "You alright?"

"I'll be fine. I've been through worse remember." Skye nodded and looked at her hands. Jiang sighed, "It's fine, really, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. This is," She raised her hand. Dangling from it were three chinese coins tied together by red string. "It's a protection charm, it wards off evil. It hung over your cradle when you were a child. It must of worked to since you were the only one who was present for the massacre and survived. I wanted to give it to you, but there hasn't been a good time. I figured now was, because I have a feeling you are going to need it after this."

Skye held it in her palm. "Thanks Mom. Umm, speakings of things we need to talk about, but there hasn't been a good chance, I met my . . . " She drifted off when she realized her mother had fallen back asleep.

She frowned slightly at the charm. There had been a perfectly good time to give it to her when Skye first round out Jiang was her mother. She tied it around her neck, and decided not to think about it.

She walked back to the room where it all started, and listened. From spending so much time around Lincoln she had come to recognize the sound of electricity. It vibrated differently than solid objects. If she could find some, there was the chance that there was a camera. The technology would just be more advanced since this facility was probably created by the kree. That was the only way someplace like Afterlife could exist in the middle of the mountains. Gordon hadn't been around forever.

Then she heard it. The distinct sounds of electrons vibrating. She turned to face the source. It was a small round object sitting on the desk. Skye picked it up and started looking at it. It smooth, black, and mostly sephiracle. Part of it was cut off, so it could sit without rolling. She tossed it back and forth trying to figure it out.

She was interrupted once again, this time by shouting agents outside. She ran out to find Cal going berserk.

"How dare you shoot my wife! You're all scum! Each and every one of you! SHIELD is nothing but a plague that is destroying my family!"

She watched, transfixed by horror, as Cal killed agent after agent with his bare hands. May jumped into the fray. A spinning side kick landed on his face. He just stumbled back and smiled.

"I'm going to enjoy this." If it was possible May's face became even harder. She went to knife hand him, but he caught her arm and threw her against a wall. It dented upon impact. Skye inhaled sharply, had Cal always been that strong? May stood back up and rolled her right shoulder, it had taken the brunt of the impact and was obviously sore.

This time she waited for him to attack. He punched overhand with his left, so it would hit her injured side. She blocked and grabbed his arm, spun so her back was against his back, with his arm still straight. Next she threw him over her shoulder. He hit the ground hard, Skye could hear the thud from where she stood several feet away. Cal just growled and stood back up.

"You know, I really don't like you," he said cheerfully.

"Good thing I'm not looking for you to like me," Came the grim reply.

May stepped forward and tried to land a palm strike. It was his turn to grab her arm. He twisted it so it was an angle that would cause a lot of pain, and make it easier to break it.

Before he could, however, shots from a quinjet rained down on him. He let her go instantly and ran for cover.

May hurried in Skye's direction, "Skye!"

She didn't respond, still trying to process what just happened. Had SHIELD really thought it was okay to fire on one of their own? Was Coulson still in charge? If he was, that wouldn't have happened.

"Skye get a gripped, I need your help," May was shaking her now.

"What do you need me to do?"

May sighed with relief, "We need to make sure this situation doesn't escalate any further."

"How?"

"We need to subdue the other inhumans, before they have a chance to recover, and fight back. That way we can stop the situation without losing any more agents."

Skye stared at the older woman with horror. "No, no, I can't do this. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. I can't to this." She backed away from May. Tears were running down her cheeks. Skye had reached her breaking point. The ground started shaking, Skye turned and ran. She didn't get very far before an ICER round connected with her back.

When she woke up she was sitting in Vault-D back at the playground. 'No, I can't stay here." She started pacing back and forth. Her pace picked up as she got more and more agitated, she didn't even notice when the quaking started again. Not until the door to the cell opened to multiple agents pointing ICERs at her.

She stopped the quaking immediately. The agents lowered the guns, leaving them unprepared for the shockwave that knocked them against the wall.

She grabbed a gun off one and extra clips off the others. She made her way upstairs. As she walked through the hallways she shot everyone she saw, without giving them a chance to stop her.

Eventually, Skye reached the supply closet. She stuffed clothes and food into a backpack and slung it over her shoulder. Next stop was her bedroom, she made it there without encountering anyone. She placed her laptop in the backpack. She spun around to see May standing in the doorway.

"Skye," She started.

"No, I can't stay here. I won't fight for either side. I won't betray my family, but I won't betray the people who treated me like I'm still human either."

"Which one is which?"

"I wish I knew." May gave her an understanding nod and stepped out of the way of the door. "Thank you," said Skye as she ran out the door.

Her last stop was the lab, she shot all the scientist before they could even notice she was there. She glanced at the unconscious bodies of Simmons and Fitz, "I'm sorry."

She grabbed the sphere off a table and glanced at the inhuman sitting a few feet away. The scientist had probably been indexing them when Skye entered the labs. She noticed Lincoln was conscious. Their eyes connected for a moment. Then she tore away, put the sphere in the bag and left the base.


	4. Including Us Both

Coulson sat at his desk. He had been reviewing the footage of Skye's escape for over an hour. Officially, he had to treat her as a traitor, and he sent a squad after her. But, after listening to May's account of what happened, he couldn't really blame Skye for acting the way she did.

Only one thing about the situation really threw him. He couldn't figured out why she took the sphere. Granted it had been in her hand when May shot her. No one could figure out what it was. Skye clearly thought it was important.

There had only been one real conclusion he came to. Fitz needed to stay away from combat situations. The poor kid wouldn't stop shaking. Being shot at again and again was wearing him down. With so many inhumans on base there would only be more situations like this one. Fitz needed to be removed before he hit his breaking point.

Fortunately, Coulson had just the place for him. Now that Tony Stark was no longer an Avenger. The Avengers needed a new tech genius. Coulson was certain that the captain would be willing to keep Fitz out of combat as much as possible, he had been for Banner.

Coulson got up and went to find Fitz to tell him. He found the younger man in the lab talking to Simmons. He called to him, "Fitz, I have something I need to talk to you about"

Fitz looked up, "Oh, umm, yes sir." He tripped over himself to get to Coulson. "What do you need?"

"Pack your stuff, meet me at the quinjet in ten."

"What will I be needing Coulson?"

"Everything you can fit in your bags."

Much to Coulson's amazement, Fitz really did manage to pack and carry everything. "Need a hand?"

"No, sir, I got it."

"Well okay then." They got in and Coulson started up the auto pilot.

"So Coulson, where are we going?"

"You are going be the Avengers new techie." Fitz nearly fainted.

They landed a few hours later. Fitz's stuff was immediately carted off to the labs.

"Well I guess we better let Captain Rogers know about you new position."

"Wait, the Avengers have no idea about me?"

"None whatsoever, I made this decision just before we left."

They found the Avengers in the training room. They were doing an exercise where all the newbie avengers teamed up against Natasha and Steve. The newbies were being decimated. Sam and Rodney attacked Natasha and Steve simultaneously. All the latter did to defend themselves was to grab the arms of the former two and swing them into each other, leaving them collapsed in a heap. Pietro attacked next, but Natasha slyly stuck her foot out and tripped him, he sprawled out on to his collapsed teammates.

This left Vision and Wanda, both of whom could fight from a distance giving them an advantage. However, since Vision's long range attack was extremely powerful and not to be trifled with, he opted not to. Steve flung his shield at Vision, and it passed right through him. Natasha went to kick him from the side. This time he chose to block. The moment he did so, the shield ricocheted back at him, knocking him to the ground.

One remained. Steve and Natasha stared at Wanda wearily. She was by far the most dangerous. As far as they could tell the only advantage they had was the fact there was nothing for her to levitate at them. Except for Steve's shield, which they both forgot about it. So Steve was extremely embarrassed when he got knocked to the ground by it. Natasha managed to dodge it, but just barely. She then ran forward, kicked up her leg, wrapped it around Wanda's neck, and yanked her to the ground.

Coulson started clapping. All the avengers spun to stare at them. "Coulson? What are you doing here?"

"I have something I need to discuss with you."

"Did you bring my soulmate?" Asked Pietro.

Coulson looked at him, "That's one of the things I want to discuss."

Pietro wandered the halls. Coulson had left a few hours ago leaving Fitz to setup up his new lab. That has been item one in the man's meeting with the Avengers.

Item two has been Skye. What was it Could in had said, oh that's right, "Officially the SHIELD stance is that she's a traitor, unofficially I find her actions completely understandable, but not necessarily rational, she is running on pure emotion right now. Point is, if you find her, the Avengers don't owe their allegiance to SHIELD." Then the man just walked out the door. When Steve chased him down Coulson outright refused to explain further.

Pietro really didn't know how to react to the news. She was a traitor, but Coulson made it abundantly clear he was not to be informed if she was found. What was even going on with SHIELD? When they showed up in Sokovia with the helicarrier he had liked them. Now that he had actually interacted with them he wasn't sure anymore.

He walked outside onto the grass and into the woods. He needed to get away and clear his head. Getting out of sight of the Avenger's training facility he heard a creek. The sound was relaxing and he walked towards it. When he saw it though, he freezed. In it was Skye's unconscious body face down and caught on branches keeping her from heading further downstream.

Once the site registered with him, the speed at which he moved amazed even him. Pietro yanked her out of the water and laid her on her back. The next part he forced himself to slow down. He would ruin any chance of resuscitating her is he didn't. Looking back on it part of his earlier anxiety was probably the familiar sensation of his soulmark turning gray. With new info in his head, he didn't bother checking her pulse, he just started straight into CPR.

The next few minutes were painfully slow to him. It was worth it. Skye's chest lifted as she pulled in a breath, before turning onto her side and coughing up water. He felt his soulmark darken and he allowed himself to breath again. When she finished she rolled back onto her back and stared at him.

"Pietro? What, where am I?" She started to sit up but winced and grabbed her head.

He instantly wrapped his arms around her, cradling her against him. "You're safe dusho moja, your safe."

"I don't think I am, not here, not anywhere. I just," She tried sitting up again. It resulted in more head clutching.

An arm freed itself from her waist and ensnared her head. Gently, he pulled her closer, so that her head rested on his chest. That's when he noticed she was shivering. He almost smacked himself for being an idiot. She had been in there for who knows how long and he was just now considering the possibility of hypothermia? He glanced at the way she was clutching her head. She must have a concussion too, he thought.

"Don't move, you're injured. It must have happened when you fell into the creek."

She frowned, "No, I was knocked back by," She paused momentarily. "Something, I don't remember what."

Skye definitely had a concussion then, if she didn't remember. Though the small part she did remember was alarming. Someone did this to her,and he was going to find of who and destroy them. But not right now, currently his priority was making sure the fragile young women in his arms was safe.

He slid one arm underneath her knees. Slowly he moved into a standing position. He needed to make sure he was moving at a pace that wouldn't hurt her more. "Dusho moja, I need you to hang onto me so you don't fall, okay?"

Running out of energy to talk, she nodded instead, and immediately winced. Pietro sighed. She entwined her arms around his neck, and they silently made their way back to base.

When they entered the building Wanda was waiting for him. She looked at Skye and said nothing, instead she started leading them in to the residential area.

"Wanda, the medical facilities are in the opposite direction," He said.

"Pietro, most of the staff here are SHIELD, we have to keep her a secret as long as possible." She used the tone that always made him feel like an idiot. He wasn't having any of that this time.

"Coulson said he didn't want to know if she showed up, so why would they report if she did?"

"Not all of them are reporting to Coulson. You do remember there is a man by the name of Gonzales they are trying to dodge, don't you? They probably have spies within their ranks."

He didn't have an argument for that, instead he stalked off to his room. Wanda followed with a smug spoke again till they were inside his room.

"Wanda, she has hypothermia. Help her out of her clothes while I grab something for her to wear." Wanda nodded as he set Skye down.

He heard Wanda gently helping and guiding Skye into the bathroom as he headed to his dresser. Grabbing his fleece sweatpants and a long sleeves t-shirt, he cracked open the bathroom door so he could pass them to Wanda. Next he pulled back the covers on his bed so Skye could crawl in when Wanda finished with her. He walk over top three thermostat and turned up the heat.

There, he thought. Should be enough to take care of her hypothermia, her concussion, on the other hand, will be another matter.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of the bathroom door opening. Wanda walked out with she lacking heavily on her, half asleep. She crawled into the bed and curled into a shivering ball. He yanked the blankets over her. Snuggling into them she gave him a sleepy grin.

"You're staying with me right? " He almost didn't hear the soft question, she got worried when he didn't answer right away, "Right?"

He gave her a grin, "You'll never be able to get rid of me dusho moja." He put his back to the wall by the bed's headboard and slid down into a sitting position.

She scooted towards him whispering, "Good. "

Wanda watched the scene with a smile. She stayed until Pietro fell asleep so she could throw a blanket over him. Heading out the door she figured Steve should know of the recent developments, so she started in his direction.

 **Translation Notes: Dusho moja = my soul in serbian, which isn't half as romantic as it sounds becuase Serbians use it like Americans use sweetheart.**


	5. I Need To Know

**Author's Note:Sorry for the really late update guys. I been having writers block. I know, that's a horrible excuse, but it's true. This chapter is somewhat on the short side, but I wanted to make sure you guys got something, and soon. So here you go, and once again I'm sorry.**

Light filtered into the room causing Skye to wake. As soon as she opened her eyes she closed them again, the light was just too bright to deal with. She turned and buried her head into her pillow, and froze. Where had a pillow come from?

Grogginess evaporated almost immediately, she bolted into an upright position and let out a cry of pain. She curled into a ball and held her head in her hands. A pair of strong arms wrapped around her. Caught off guard she flung them off of her and fell on the floor.

She landed with a thud and a groan of pain. The arms wrapped themselves around her again, "Skye It's me."

She stopped struggling once she heard his voice. "Pietro? Where am I? How did I get here?" There was a quiver in her voice that unnerved them both.

"I found you in a creek yesterday. I brought you back to base and you've been sleeping ever since."

"Why don't I remember that?"

"You were pretty out of it, you had hypothermia and a concussion. I think you're down to just a concussion now." Skye could tell he was leaving out something, but wasn't entirely certain what. Her brain hurt too much to figure it out. Instead she let herself relax, even snuggle up top him slightly. He responded by tightening his grip on her. "I am never letting you go."

"You're going to have to sooner or later, nice as this is, or spot on the floor is going to get uncomfortable after a while," She quipped.

Pietro chuckled, "Glad to see you still have your sense of humor dusho moja."

She paused ever stop slightly at the odd nickname, before she could ask about it her stomach growled. She groaned, "When was the last time I ate?"

"Can't answer that question, I can remedy it though." He lifted her to her feet and guided her out of the room.

They entered a living area. From what Skye could tell multiple bedrooms like the one they had come out of were connected to the room. There was a kitchenette tucked into a corner. Pietro sat her down at the kitchen's island, and set to work.

He put a pan on the stove to warm. Reaching into the fridge he pulled out eggs, green onion, milk, cheese, sausage, orange pepper, and mushroom. He cracked the eggs into a bowl and started stirring. "I can't cook much. Growing up on the streets doesn't allow the chance to learn that kind of stuff, but Steve has taught me how to make an omelette."

"I guess that's two things we have in common."

He glanced over his shoulder while he chopped vegetables, "And those two things are?"

"Neglected cooking skills due to growing up on the streets, and we've both died once." He stilled. "What? I know you know I died once two years ago, and your pulse stopped fairly recently."

"You have no idea how recently," He muttered. Spinning around he placed the omelette in front of her. "Let's make sure it doesn't happen again. Step one, don't starve yourself. Want some orange juice?"

Skye studied his sudden change in demeanor. "Is that what you weren't telling me earlier? Good thing I'm surrounded by people who are good at recitation. And yeah orange juice sounds nice."

He grabbed a glass out of a cabinet. Perceptive, he'd have to remember that about her. He poured the orange juice and started to make his own breakfast.

They were silent for the next couple of minutes. Neither was certain how to proceed from that point, Skye was smacking herself for bringing the subject up on the first place. They were rescued by Sam.

He swung open his bedroom door, "Do we have coffee on the pot?"

Pietro snorted, "You know we never have coffee till Cap gets back from his morning run."

Sam shook his head, "Why does Steve always insist on brewing the first pot of the day himself?"

"How should I know? You've known him longer, why don't you know?"

"I asked him once. He gave me an odd look and said because I'm always the second up in the morning."

Skye laughed, "Sounds like he doesn't like your coffee brewing skills." She turned and faced him.

"Hey, girl," He greeted her. "Your Skye right? I don't think we've been formally introduced yet. I'm Sam Wilson, the Falcon."

Smiling she said, "It's a pleasure to meet you Sam"

He grinned at her, "I'm a former pararescueman, so I have medical training if you want help dealing with your let me know, till then I'm going to go wake Rhodey."

She nodded as Pietro sat down next to her with his own food. She was finishing hers as Wanda, Natasha, Vision, and Steve walked in. They said nothing as they went about their tasks. Steve made coffee, as Natasha sat and started looking at something on her laptop. Wanda took one look at the vegetables sitting around the kitchen and the still warm pan, and decided to make an omelette of her own. With Vision just standing off to the side Watching everything. Eventually Rhodey and Sam came back and also grabbed cups of coffee. They all sat down, and Skye braced herself for what was coming next.

"Agent Skye," Steve started. "If you're going to be staying here we need to understand what's going on. All we know is the technically, you are a traitor."

Skye nodded and drank the last of her orange juice. She looked at Romanov, "Mind if I borrow your laptop?" Wordlessly it was slid to her, and she immediately started typing.

While she did that Pietro asked, "So does everyone know she's here, because I notice none of you are surprised by her appearance." Natasha just gave him an odd look.

"Here's my team's mission reports going back for two years," Skye said as she slid the laptop back to it's owner. "I know that seems absurd, but your questions will just lead to more questions, and I already have a headache from my concussion. I really just want to get some more sleep if you don't mind."

Steve blinked, that was slick. He couldn't tell if she was evading the conversation, or if she honestly did have a headache. It was probably both. Not that it mattered, it was already out of his hands.

Pietro was up and grabbing her dishes putting them in the sink. "Of course, this can wait. Go ahead and continue using my room." She gave a grateful smile and made her exit.

A short amount of time latter all the avengers were huddled in the lab staring expectantly at Fitz. Which made him very confused. "What are you doing here?" Instead of answering, Natasha, shoved her laptop in his face. That made Fitz even more confused. "Why do you have the all the mission reports of my old team?"

Natasha answered, "Skye gave them to us."

"Skye?"

"Oh, everyone doesn't know," exclaimed Pietro.

Fitz sighed, "What don't I know this time?"

"Skye's on base."

Fitz brightened significantly at that. "She is? That's good to hear. She has a knack for getting herself into trouble whenever she's left alone. So, what can I do for you that she can't?"

Steve spoke next, "It's more like she won't. We asked her to explain what the hell is going on with SHIELD, instead of answering she gave us these files. Then she left because she had a horrible headache from her concussion."

The last part surprised Fitz, "She's actually being a good patient and taking care of herself? I never thought I'd see the day." The Avengers gave him an annoyed look, "Right sorry. I ah, Well I ah" He took a moment to pause and breath. Then started over again calmly, "The reason Skye gave all that files was because , as she put it, it's all connected. To just jump in and explain can be kinda confusing if you don't know all the background. I can't imagine Skye would want to explain since a lot of his is deeply personal to her, especially recent events."

"If that's the case I have to learn from her," Pietro said. "You guys can continue having Fitz explain, but she's my soulmate. Going behind her back feels wrong." With that he got up and left.


	6. Will You Tell Me

**Author's Note: For those of you that have had the patience to sit thought these past couple months with no updates, I have a few words. You are amazing. Dedication to a story is one of an authors favorite things, and you all make me happy. To those of you that haven't sent me messages asking me when the next update is, or reminding me you are waiting, thank you. You helped me get my butt into gear. I wish I had a reasonable excuse for making you wait, but I don't, and for that I am sorry.**

Skye hadn't stopped moving since she entered Pietro's room. She did have a headache, but was completely unable to settle down and rest. She wanted something to distract herself, but the room was extremely spartan. The plain cream walls offered nothing to focus on. She never noticed Pietro enter. So he just watched her attempt to wear a hole in his carpet for a few minutes before saying anything.

"I take it you can't settle down." She spun around in surprise, subconsciously falling into a fighting stance in the process. "Remind me not to startle you while in close proximity."

Skye let out a shaky breath, "Do you need something?"

He kept his distance, her stance hadn't relaxed any yet. "I have to need something to be allowed to visit my own room?"

Hands fell down to her sides, "Right, yeah, sorry."

"It's alright dusho moja. Whatever you've been through, it clearly has you stressed." To his surprise she just slumped towards the ground. It took all of Pietro's speed to catch her. "I've got you. Everything will be fine."

"No it won't." Skye's voice was cracked, on the verge of sobs. Her entire body limp in his arms. "I'm sorry I've dragged you into my crap life."

He set her on the bed and whispered in her ear, "I bet mine's worse."

Skye lifted her face from his chest to look at him, "I really doubt that."

"Well, how much do you want to bet? You'll have to set the amount. I'm not good at figuring out what a reasonable bet is. Have you seen the ratio of US dollars to dinars?" Pietro shook his head in wonder.

"You really pride yourself on having the worse life don't you?" He grinned at her. "Okay, five dollars."

He nodded then scooped her up of her feet. Skye started struggling. "Relax, if we're going to have this conversation we should get comfortable." He set her down with her back against the he proceeded to stretch out next to her. She was rather reminded of a cat.

Pietro propped himself up on his elbow and grinned at her, "Shall I go first?" She simply raised an eyebrow. "Excellent, when I was little a missile landed in our house killing our parents. A second missile landed but didn't go off. The only thing we knew was the missile belonged to a man named Stark. Wanda and I waited three days for it to go off before we got rescued. We joined protest after protest to stop the bombings. When Hydra offered to give us power, we didn't question it. When they asked us to attack the Avengers, we just thought of it as chance to take down Stark. Of course Hydra was defeated. Then we met Ultron, who offered us the same opportunity." He shrugged, "Well you know how that went."

Skye gave a sympathetic smile. "Sounds tough, I admit, but you better be prepared to pay up. When I was fifteen months old I was dropped off at the footsteps of an orphanage. I bounced around from foster home to foster home for several years. They all found an excuse to get rid of me sooner or later. The Brody's were the worst. I was around them long enough to get comfortable. I even tried calling Mrs. Brody, Mom. I got sent back the next day. Another family sent me back for breaking a dish." He gave her an incredulous look. "What? I got over it. Besides that was not even the worst part. The nuns gave me this horrendous name, and nothing you do can drag it out of me," She laughed.

"All right, your childhood was pretty bad, but I win overall."

"So wait you get to tell your whole life story but I can't? Jerk, way to rig it!"

His jaw dropped, "There's more?"

She grinned, "You will lose."

"I'm beginning to think so. Which is a bit wrong, is the man not supposed to be better than the woman in all ways?"

She smacked him, "That is so sexist. You asshole!"

That caused him to shrug, "True, but at least I'm your asshole."

Skye smiled, "Damn right you are."

"Dusho moja, I believe you were going to tell me the rest of your life story."

She went on to tell him about being recruited by the Rising Tide. How SHIELD caught her and brought her in. Losing the trust of her team, and how hard she had to work to regain it. He gave her a sympathetic grin as she continued. He got up and paced while she described the events surrounding her death and resurrection. His eyes widened in horror at the discovery of her SO being HYDRA, and her kidnapping and all subsequent events, up until the battle at Cybertek.

Then he started grinning like a maniac, "That's my girl." At which Skye snorted before continuing. Setting up the Playground, watching over Fitz in a coma, the closest thing she had to a brother being broken, Jemma leaving, going to Ward for information, her voice wavered slightly when she got to Donnie.

Pietro pulled her into a hug, fully enveloping her with his arms. She paused for a moment and smiled before continuing. The Diviner, Whitehall, her father, her abilities, the kree, Lady Sif, losing the team's trust again, the cabin, Gordon, Lincoln, her mother, it all blurred together and Pietro began to see why his soulmate was so closed off. "Sranje, you really do have it tough. I think I owe you five US dollars."

She stared at him, "I owe you five dollars, just like that? No freaking out about what I've dragged you into?"

He frowned, "No, why should I? Everything will be fine. We're soulmates there's nothing we can't handle when we're together."

"Everything won't be fine!" Skye shouted. "There's a war between the inhumans and SHIELD, and I'm stuck in the middle! I consider both sides to be family, but they hate and fear each other, and I don't know what side is right! I don't know what to do anymore!" A fist banged against his chest as she broke into tears. Sobs tore from her chest while her arms waved violently. The few pieces of furniture he had fell over. For a few moments the bed acted as a shock absorber, before the frame broke. The moment the mattress hit the ground, the sobs became silent sniffles. It took him a second to realize she had forcibly stopped the crying and the quake. The effort had made her unnaturally exhausted.

Skye surveyed the the knocked over chairs, and the cracks in the walls. "I was right when I told Lincoln I was cursed. All I bring is destruction!" She flopped down, turning away from him and curled into a ball.

Pietro layed down next to her pressing his chest to her back. One of his hands settled at her waist, causing her to tense slightly. He listened to her attempts to suppress more sobs. HIs lips grazed her ear and he whispered, "Destruction isn't the only thing you bring. You've also brought me a lot of heartache and worry."

She just about growled at him, "Not Helping."

"Ne?" He said with minor puzzlement. "No, I suppose not. That wasn't the best way to put it. My heart aches because your problems are mine, but you don't trust me enough to ask for help. I worry because your heart has already stopped twice. For the first time in a long while I am concerned for someone besides myself, and my sister."

In an instant he was flat out on his back, Skye a few inches above him. She seethed, "Trust? Of course I don't trust you. We haven't even spent 24 consecutive hours in each other's presence yet. Hell, we haven't even been around each other for 24 hours period."

Faster than she could compute Pietro had reversed their positions. "So? Yesterday I found you face down in a creek, dead. When your heart started beating again you seemed to trust me well enough. If you try to pass that off as just you concusion talking I won't believe you. Let me take care of you. You trusted me enough to tell me your life's story. Why won't you trust me now?" She flinched. He wasn't yelling, but there was so much anguish in his voice, she didn't know how to handle it.

Her voice was quieter than he had hear it so far. "Now you know. You don't have to worry about me. I'm no longer some mystery you're trying to understand. Now you can move on to the next pretty girl. The one with out the crap life, and the weird psychological issues. I get it, really. I'd have to be stupid if I haven't learned that lesson yet."

He rolled onto his back next to her, "I don't want the next pretty girl. She won't be you. I told you yesterday. You will never be able to get rid of me."

Skye snuggled up to him, and rested her head on his shoulder. "Good."

An old instinct woke within Pietro. One he hadn't felt in a long time. He pulled a quilt over them both and started to sing an old lullaby he had learned before his parents death.

 _Možda ce noć odneti brige,_

 _prizvuk sete u očima tvojim._

 _Na kraju ovog napornog dana,_

 _zatvori oči i daj mi ruke._

 _Najlepše snove na svetu sanjaj_

 _sanjaj da letiš da imaš krila_

 _Dok noć na nebu lagano plovi_

 _sanjaj, biću kraj tebe._

 _Opusti telo, odmori misli_

 _budi spremna da toneš u snove_

 _jer noć je vreme za savet i odmor._

 _Zatvori oči i daj mi ruke,_

 _najlepše snove na svetu sanjaj,_

 _sanjaj da letiš, da imaš krila._

 _Dok noć na nebu lagano plovi,_

 _sanjaj biću kraj tebe._

When he finished he listed to Skye's steady breathing for a moment before fading into sleep himself.

 **Translation Notes:**

 **Sanje - Holy Crap**

 **Ne - No**

 **The Lullaby**

 **Perhaps the night would take care,**  
 **note remember them in your eyes.**  
 **At the end of a busy day**  
 **Close your eyes and give me a hand.**

 **Dream the most beautiful dreams in the world**  
 **dream to fly, to have wings.**  
 **While the night sky slowly floats**  
 **In your dreams I'll be beside you.**

 **Relax your body, relax your mind.**  
 **Be prepared to sink in dreams,**  
 **because the night is the time for advice and rest.**

 **Close your eyes and give me a hand.**  
 **Dream the most beautiful dreams in the world**  
 **dream to fly, to have wings.**  
 **While the night sky slowly floats**  
 **In your dreams I'll be by your side.**

 **Thanks to Kristina'sMyName for translation help.**


	7. Author's Note

I'm sorry everyone but this fic is going on an indefinite hiatus. I have the whole thing plotted but the words won't come. I don't know why. It could be writers block, maybe I've lost interest, or maybe school is keeping me to busy. I don't know. It's probably a combo of the three. I feel bad just leaving you all like this, wondering when the next chapter will come, so that's why I'm posting this note. Hopefully I will finish this someday. I would like to, but currently I just can't. I need to move away from it for a while. When (if) I start updating again this note will be deleted and replaced. Until then, goodbye.


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